EAGLE Documents Long History of Munitions Cleanup on AU Campus

When the Army Corps of Engineers first closed the Intramural Field for arsenic testing in March 2001, American University could not have anticipated it would still be grappling with cleanup projects over 16 years later.  Now, the work being done on 4825 Glenbrook Road has been paused until investigators know why workers digging on the site showed signs of chemical exposure in August ... The history of the project extends back to 1917, when the U.S. Army used AU’s campus to test chemical weapons during World War I.  Army operations were held in Northwest Washington in what is now known as the Spring Valley neighborhood.  ACE tried for years to pinpoint the location of a waste pit that was captured in a 1918 photograph.

Cleanup site next to 4835 Glenbrook Rd. (Eagle)

On the back of the photograph, Sergeant Charles Maurer, who is shown standing over the pit, wrote: “The most feared and respected place on the grounds. The bottles are full of mustard [gas], to be destroyed here. In Death Valley. The hole called Hades” ... ACE returned to the Spring Valley neighborhood in the 1990s for cleanup and testing after ACE’s discovery of leftover materials from the project, including exploded munitions items, some of which are still being discovered on AU’s campus ... Arsenic was found at the Glenbrook site in 2010, The Eagle previously reported, and ACE demolished the house there in 2012.  The University also owns a residential property at 4835 Glenbrook Road: the currently vacant official residence for the University President ...

Photo depicts disposal in pit containing mustard (DOD)

Current AU president Sylvia Burwell was planning to move into the property, according to the Northwest Current, but now will not after more testing in the house’s basement was announced in September.  According to a 2013 Washingtonian article, ACE planned to spend an estimated $12 million to excavate and restore the Glenbrook Road site.  At the time, ACE said the dig “could last into 2014.”  Four years later, ACE is still working to excavate the site, and will continue to clean and test the area well into 2018 ... Next up in the project, the area surrounding the demolished Public Safety building will be examined for munitions debris ... While AU officials have long held that students are not at risk of exposure to harmful chemicals on campus, AU alumni recently formed a Facebook group to share concerns about the safety of the athletics fields near the Glenbrook site and the old Public Safety building area.
Nazli Togrul

The Eagle

October 25, 2017